Somewhere to rest
by nea83
Summary: "God Dean, you really do look a mess!" He grabbed his brother by the arm and dragged him up.    "Get off me, man! I'm fine!" Dean shrugged him off,stumbled and fell against the car only to have Sam grab him again...
1. Chapter 1

_I own nothing, but I wish these boys were mine... or actually... if they were I would probably never leave my house so maybe it's a good thing. Reviews makes me happy and makes me write fast... so does ideas and constructive criticism. Cheers. xx_

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><p>She looked at him with one eyebrow raised, not too sure what to make of the whole situation. Usually she wouldn't let a (bleeding) stranger near her or her motel this late at night but there was just something about this man. His eyes spoke of faith and calm if even a slight urgency, there seemed to be nothing evil in there.<p>

"So..." Sam said, trying on the puppy eyes once again.  
>"Have you got a room for me and my brother? I know it's late and I look a little bit scruffy but trust me, we wont cause any problems."<br>She nodded and looked behind the desk for a key to one of the nicer rooms, she was a sucker for giant puppies after all and her senses screamed at her that this man needed taking care of and was nothing to fear.  
>"Room 401, just down there," She pointed. " Two queens, yea?" Sam let out a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding.<br>"Yea.. Thank you... Thank you so much" She nodded and handed over the key, sorted out the payment for the night and let him know that breakfast was served between 8 and 10 in the little dining room if they were interested. He thanked her again and turned to leave.

"You know you're bleeding, right?" Sam stopped dead, brain working fast to think of the least stupid excuse. "Yea, got caught on... something...(smooth) no biggie... thanks again." He gave her an apologetic smile and left, hurried back to the car, drove as close to the room as he could and opened the door to the passenger seat.

"God Dean, you really do look a mess!" He grabbed his brother by the arm and dragged him up.  
>"Get off me, man! I'm fine!" Dean shrugged him off, stumbled and fell against the car only to have Sam grab him again and half drag, half carry him in to their room.<p>

She took a few slow steps back indoors after witnessing the two men stumbling in to their room. Although it might not be custom for her guests to check in bleeding this was a rough place to live. None of her business after all so she decided to try to shrug it off and focus on the jobs that needed doing. She sighed and went in to the supply room, dragging her feet a little, late night shifts always seemed to take it out of her.

Sam managed to guide his brother to one of the beds and sat him down. He was not looking forward to this next bit, Dean was always such a jerk when it came to taking care of wounds and he really could be a big baby.  
>"Right bro, shirt off, gotta get that bleeding to stop." He said this over his shoulder whilst walking over to the bathroom to grab towels and some hot water, thinking that maybe if he pretended that it wasn't a big deal his brother would just let him dress his wounds and they could both get some well needed sleep. He grabbed two towels and cursed under his breath after realizing that they were the only towels they had.<br>Walking back out to the room again he noticed that Dean hadn't moved, not one bit, shirt still in place. Shit.

"Dean please, I'm tired and bleeding too here. Don't make this any harder than it has to be."  
>"M'fine Sammy, just a little scratch.. lemme sleep..." Dean swatted his brothers hands away with his eyes still closed.<br>"Hey... HEY!" Sam grabbed his hands and firmly (maybe a little bit too firm) put them over his head, pinning him down. "You're poking my eyes out! Stop being such a freaking baby! Now i'm gonna take your shirt off because it's sticking to all the blood!" This time Sam didn't give Dean a chance to protest, he pulled his brothers shirt off in a swift movement and then backed up a step just in case Dean would decide to take a swing at him.  
>"There, that wasn't so hard was it?" He threw the shirt on the floor and moved in with a towel.<br>"Touch me again and I'll rip your arms off." Somehow the threat didn't seem so bad coming from someone lying down with a arm thrown over his eyes.  
>Sam pulled out a flask of holy water (you can never be too sure) and braced himself for the pain he was about to cause his brother.<br>"This might sting a little, I just wanna make sure they're not infected with something creepy, alright?"  
>Dean lifted his arm a little and peaked up at Sam, he was just going to question what he meant by that when he felt Sam pour water over his scratches and doubled over in pain, a whole lot of profanities coming out of his mouth. Darkness threatened and he looked up and around the room to make sure it was safe and Sammy was safe before letting it take over.<br>Sam was actually relieved when he saw his older brother finally give up and slide in to unconsciousness, that meant that he could work without having someone slowing him down. He finished cleaning Deans torn chest and bandaged him right up. That's gonna hurt in the morning. He then took a deep breath and moved on to remove his brothers jeans, praying that he wouldn't wake up during this part. He took a good look at the gash that made its way down the right leg and began cleaning and dressing it, everything going on auto-pilot, this wasn't the first time he had had to patch Dean up and it was easier like this, not actually having to think of what he was doing.

He had just put a pair of sweatpants on his brother and dragged him to the other (dry and clean) bed when there was a small knock on the door.

**_tbc...?_**


	2. Chapter 2

_We all seem to love a bit of hurt Dean, eh? I still have more ideas floating around in my head. This might even turn in to a proper story... Reviews makes me smile and makes my fingers want to type. _

_I also own nothing... well I own the over-caring receptionist but she's not even close to being as cool and funky as Sam and Dean. _

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><p>Sam walked towards the door, surely they couldn't be here to kick them out, surely Deans shouting had not been that loud. He opened the door and looked down at the receptionist from earlier. She was stood balancing a bunch of towels on one arm and a brown bag in the other.<br>"Do you mind...? Kinda close to dropping them here..." She nodded towards the towels.  
>"Oh! Uh.. yea.. thanks... I guess..." Sam grabbed the towels from her.<p>

"Look I don't mean to pry or anything but both you and your brother looked pretty bashed up and whenever that happens to me and my siblings we always go through so many towels so I figured maybe you'd need some more... oh... and this is just some left over soup from dinner before... because you know... it's late and no real place open for food now so... sorry... i tend to over do things... people always tell me I care too much... and now i'm talking too much as well! Here just take this!" She handed the brown bag over to Sam and started to walk away.  
>"Oh.. and there's some pie in there as well.. figured it's better that you guys have it than the rubbish bin... anyways... g'night!" She was gone in a swirl of blonde hair and haste before Sam had a second to progress and thank her. He closed the door again and put the bag down on the kitchen table, bit of a puzzled look on his face.<p>

He shrugged and taking one of the clean towels, running it under a bit of hot water he moved over to Dean again and started to wipe off the smudges of dirt mixed up with blood from his face. He didn't like the paleness of his brothers skin or the thin layer of sweat that was starting to form all over his body. It could only mean one thing. Fever. So either it was infected wounds_ (great!)_ or it was the cold that he knew that Dean had been trying to hide from him for over a week now.  
>Dean started to stir a bit and Sam sighed preparing for yet another arm-swatting war.<br>"What the hell?"  
>"Dean, relax, it's just me alright. Big baddie monster got you pretty good, just need to clean up." Sam kept going, following his brothers head around with the towel as he tried to turn away.<br>"Just stay still bro, it'll be so much easier..." He swiftly avoided one of the many hands trying to shoo him away.  
>"Get. Off. Me. " Deans voice was low in his throat and it would've sounded so much more threatening if it wasn't for the fact that he ended it with a long hacking cough. Rolling over to his side Sam tried to follow but got momentarily stunned by the look of his brothers back.<br>"Dammit Dean! Why didn't you tell me that it was that bad!" The sheets had red stains on them coming from a deep gash going from Deans lower back up all the way to his neck.  
>" 'Cus I knew you would be a bitch about it!"<br>"What?"  
>"It's nothing Sammy, I just wanna sleep ok."<br>Yea, no wonder! You're loosing a lot of blood, you idiot!" Sam pressed the damp towel against Deans back without any warning and was rewarded with a kick in his direction, only inches away from actually hitting him.  
>"Dean I swear to God, if you try to do that again I'll have you pinned against the wall so that I can finish this in peace." It was no use though, threats did nothing to his brother and he knew it, partly because there was no way he would actually drag him out of bed risking to hurt him even more and partly because really, dragging Dean Winchester out of bed even this hurt would be too much of an effort to even be worth it.<br>But Sam's patience was starting to slowly drip away when he had to avoid the third kick and forth swat that his brother was aiming a him accompanied by the millionth "I'm fine, get off me!"

When Deans arm once again swatted at him he lost it, grabbed hold of his wrist and pulled it up in a death grip. There was no way Dean was getting out of that. He pulled up just a little harder than what was necessary to make his point and could just make out the muffled moan of pain.  
>"I can't <em>believe<em> I have to hold you down to help you out, you stupid stubborn jerk!" Sam finished the rest of the cleaning and bandaging one-handed, not letting go of his brothers arm until he was fixed and clean.

He stood up again and stretched, decided to take a quick shower before tending to his own cut on his arm and before once again going over Deans torn up body to make sure all was done.  
>"Get some rest, I'll be back in a bit." The grumpy mumble that sounded something like<em> "bitch<em>" and_ "pain in my ass"_ mixed with a whole lot of other profanities didn't really bother Sam too much as he walked over to the bathroom.

The hot water felt like bliss and he massaged his shoulders and stretched out as much as he could, letting muscles tense up and then relax, could feel the tiredness coming over him. He grabbed one of the clean towels and wrapped it around his waist before going out to the main room again to find some sweats. The first thing he noticed when he got out of the bathroom was Deans labored breathing but as he was gonna rush over and help he realized that his brother was actually asleep and the breathing was due to a blocked nose and the cold. So he left Dean be and started getting dressed and then he looked over his own arm. It wouldn't need stitches, it was just a long quite shallow cut. He bit down on his lip as he poured holy water over it, pushed through the pain again trying to switch the auto pilot on, and then used the last of the bandage they had to wrap it up.

"Dude... Really? You took my jeans off? You pervy little..." Deans hoarse accusation was interrupted by coughing and then a little muffled moan of pain.  
>"Hey! You're awake! How are you feeling? Need anything?" Sam hurried to Deans side and moved in close when his brother whispered something he could quite make out.<br>"Closer Sammy... Come closer..."  
>"What? What's wrong?"<br>"Come here..."  
>Sam leaned in close only to receive a smack on the back of his head.<br>"Ouch! Jerk!"  
>"That's for undressing me, bitch! Stay off the goods! And for holding me down!" Dean coughed again and rolled over to his side.<br>Sam walked over to the table and sat down whilst mumbling about ungratefulness. He pulled a warm plastic container out of the brown bag and opened it, the smell of food filling the room in a pleasant, calming way. His brother turned over towards him with one eye open.  
>"Pie?" he croaked, hope in his voice.<br>"Not for you."  
>"Awww Sammy please..."<br>"It's Sam. And nope!" Sam slurped the soup extra loud.  
>"Pretty please?"<br>"Only if you promise to not be such a baby when i re-dress your wounds tomorrow."  
>"Yup! I promise! Anything for pie!"<br>"And if you take some aspirin as well, I can tell you have a fever, jerk."  
>Dean muttered and struggled to finally sit up leaning towards the headboard posture slightly awkward due to his messed up back.<br>"Fine." Sam sighed, half relief and half annoyance and pulled the piece of pie out and handed it to Dean on one of the little paper plates that were also packed in to the little bag. Overly thoughtful? Maybe. But still pretty damn great. He grabbed two pills out of his bag and handed them with a glass of water over as well.  
>"I'm only taking these 'cus of the pie.. i feel fine, Sammy" Never mind that it took Dean four tries to get that sentence out being interrupted by coughing fits and his voice breaking.<br>"mmmhmmm.. you're fine." It was gonna be a long night.

**_TBC? _**


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks for reviews and story alerts, it makes me happy and as always, makes me want to write faster. xx_

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><p>It was 5.30 in the morning and this was the 8th time Sam had been woken up by coughing and dragged himself out of bed, grabbing a glass of water for his brother and patiently waiting until the coughing-fit stopped and Dean was back in his sleepunconscious state. He made a little list in his head of what he would need to pick up tomorrow to ease the pain.

_Painkillers._  
><em>Tylenol.<em>  
><em>More bandages.<em>  
><em>More pills. <em>  
><em>Some sorta something with vitamins in that he would be able to force down Deans throat.<em>  
><em>Lozenges.<em>  
><em>A gun to blow his brains out as no sleep + annoying brother = major pain in the ass.<em>

He dozed off again sometime during fantasizing about magically removing Deans lungs until they were better.

Dean gazed over at his little brother, seeing that Sam had just fallen asleep again he tried to muffle his coughing in to the pillow. It left him breathless and in pain and he couldn't even breath through his nose and his throat made some kind of wheezing noise and he could really go for some whiskey right now and everything just sucks!

He tried to sit up a bit, deciding that that would probably help his lungs and nose. Just getting up in a sitting position hurt like hell. The scratches.. alright.. gashes all over his body were sore and his back really hurt from being thrown in to that tree as well. He grabbed a pillow and tried to cough as quiet as possible in to it. It was too hot in here! What was it with Sam and turning the heat right up? He kicked off the cover, frowning again at the sweatpants that his brother had put on him. He was so gonna kick his ass for that! God, that itching in his throat was driving him insane and if only he could breath through his nose life would be so much better!

"Dude... blow your nose... you're grossing me out with all that gurgling and wheezing..." Sam spoke with his head still buried in his pillow. Dean wanted to say something back, preferably something that would shut Sam the hell up, he really did, but what came out was a massive coughing-fit that left his eyes watery and somehow Sam was by his side with some water making him drink to calm down and placed a roll of toilet paper next to him. He would never admit it or never even really think it but Sam's hand rubbing his back actually made this a little more bearable. He nodded a little to let Sam know that he was done for now and leaned back.

"You're not gonna let me sleep, are you?" Sam sighed and sat down on the foot of Deans bed. His brother kinda shrugged,_ "sorry, man"_ was spoken with no words.  
>"Right, how bout some TV then?" Sam switched the TV on and sat back down.<br>"How's the fever, anyways?"  
>Dean rolled his eyes <em>"it's freaking awesome." <em>  
>Sam studied his brother with concern written all over his face.<br>"You don't look so good." That got him another eye-roll and he could've swore that a _"neither do you"_ was thrown back at him with the frown on Deans face. He needed to find out how high this fever really was and if he would need to push some more pills down his brothers throat but wasn't too sure how to go about it. They had a fever-thermometer in their first-aid kit but keeping that in Deans mouth for longer than the 2 seconds it would take for him to throw it on the floor and lash out would not be enough time. A kick right in his side woke him up from his thoughts and a raised eyebrow with_ "what the hell are you looking at?" _

"Sorry, just got stuck, you know." Sam shook his head a little to clear it and got up on slightly unsteady legs to go wash his face in some cold water. The need to be there for his big brother was larger than the need for sleep but it was still very hard to fight it. This last hunt had taken it out of both of them and he couldn't even remember the last time he got a full nights sleep.  
>He got back in to the room and the sorry sight of Dean trying to breath through his mouth without coughing, head tilted a little bit up to make it easier.<p>

Dean glanced over just in time to see that annoying look of pity and worry in Sams eyes, then it changed to something close to determination and he advanced closer to him, stopped by his side and before he knew it Sam had his ginormous hand plastered on his forehead. _What the hell? _He pushed his invading brothers hand off of him and managed to get a strained "_What the hell do you think you're doing?"_ out before yet another coughing fit.

"Ok, look... I need to make sure your fever isn't stupidly high, alright? I would rather not but you know as well as I do that it has to be done!" Sam put his hand back for a second and then wiped the sweat that had rubbed off on his palm on Deans shirt, which of course earned him a death-glare.  
>"You're far too warm for my liking, Dean. I need to check it properly." Sam reached in to the bag and got the thermometer out.<br>The very skeptic and slightly threatening look plus the tense stance from his brother got him to take a deep breath once again, trying to calm down. He had no idea why Dean always made it so freaking hard! The little patience that was left in him was slowly ebbing away, his eyes burning from lack of sleep.

He took the last steps towards his brother and wasn't all that surprised when Dean whacked the thermometer from his hand as he reached out to try to put it in his mouth. It bounced off the bed and down on to the floor. There was a minute of dead silence before Sam bent down, picked it up, went to the bathroom, washed it off and then back in to the room again only to be greeted by Deans stubborn face.

"Remember what dad used to do when you refused to do these things? I swear I'll do the same if you start fighting. I'm tired, Dean." Sam could've swore that there was a hint of fear in Deans eyes at the mention of their fathers methods and as much as he hated it, he was relieved that his threat worked.  
>He sat down next to his brother and pushed the thermometer gently in to his mouth and then firmly held it in place until it beeped.<p>

"102,2. Dammit." Dean rolled his eyes in response and leaned back against the pillows. Sam scooted up so that he was sat next to his brother in bed and reached for the remote to turn the volume down a little bit. Dean pushed at him in a _"what the hell are you doing in my bed_"-kind of way but Sam being the one with the most strength at the moment easily shrugged him off.  
>"Calm down. There's no way I'm gonna move now, I'm far too comfy. Besides this saves me from having to get up every five seconds when you start coughing, this way I'm right here already." He leaned back and closed his eyes.<br>"Now I'm gonna try to get half an hours sleep and then I'm gonna go grab you loads of drugs and stuff so shut up for a bit, will you? And blow your freaking nose, you're gross!"


	4. Chapter 4

_So I've got well over a hundred people reading this story and 8 reviews. Is it really that bad or do people just not leave comments anymore? Come on peeps, they really do help. Constructive criticism? Ideas? Anything you wanna read that you want me to add to later chapters? Spell checks? I don't have a Beta so all the mistakes are mine... that's about it though... unfortunately I do not own these two boys... a girl can only dream! xx_

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><p><em>"Calm down. There's no way I'm gonna move now, I'm far too comfy. Besides this saves me from having to get up every five seconds when you start coughing, this way I'm right here already." He leaned back and closed his eyes.<em>  
><em>"Now I'm gonna try to get half an hours sleep and then I'm gonna go grab you loads of drugs and stuff so shut up for a bit, will you? And blow your freaking nose, you're gross!"<em>

Dean rolled his eyes and grabbed some toilet roll to blow his nose. The heat must really be messing with his head as he even kind of enjoyed having Sam that close. It made him feel safe. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on breathing without coughing and it seemed to work for a while. He was just about to doze off when he choked on his own saliva and snot and started coughing again, making Sam jump up in a confused sleepy state. He looked around and after a couple of seconds realization came to him and he looked down on his coughing brother and handed him the glass of water.

"Right... I think it's pretty clear that I'm not gonna get any sleep until I've gotten you some drugs." Sam yawned and stretched out his abnormally huge body and Dean only just resisted the urge to kick him. He wasn't sure why the way he felt right now was Sams fault, but it just was! Besides, moving his body in anyway hurt and made him feel just a little bit dizzy. He hated to admit it, but maybe Sam was right, maybe he had a bit of a cold. Surely it would be gone after a couple of hours of sleep though.

He watched his brother get dressed and grab keys and fuzz about in the room for a while as his eyelids just seemed to be getting heavier and heavier.  
>Sam looked over just in time to see Dean give up and fall in to a shallow sleep, mouth wide open, accompanied by a gross snoringwheezing. For just a second he felt like throwing something unpleasing in to his brothers open mouth but decided against it. He could mess with Dean when he was better again.  
>He had no idea where to get anything, they'd only rolled in to town last night and he had been too worried about getting Dean inside to patch him up to really look for anything else whilst they were driving. He was gonna have to ask.<p>

The door pinged in a too loud way for Sams sleepy ears when he opened it to get in to the reception.  
>"Just a minute!" was shouted from what looked like a kitchen a little bit further down the hall. The same girl that had checked him in last night came out, hair in a messy ponytail and what looked like flour covering the front of her jeans and tank-top. She half ran, half walked up behind the desk. Why would someone decide to be up this early and how could she be so smiley and full of life when he just wanted to go crawl up in a corner and not come out for a week, head pounding.<br>"What can I do for you?"  
>"Don't you ever sleep?" She looked a bit taken aback by the question at first and then smiled up at him.<br>"I could say the same thing to you, sir. You look like you could use some rest. I don't need that much sleep, besides the breakfast is not gonna make itself!"  
>"Right... sorry... didn't mean to be rude... just tired I guess... well I was wondering if you know if there's a pharmacy around here somewhere...?"<br>"Yea, there's one down the road, drive for maybe 5 minutes and then turn left, you can't miss it!"  
>"OK, thanks" Sam turned to leave.<br>"Uhmm, excuse me, sir?"  
>"Yea...?"<br>"You do realize that it's about quarter to eight in the morning right? It wont open until 9." Sam tiredly leaned his head against the door. No, he hadn't realized and going back in to his coughing brother without any drugs was not high on his list.  
>"Why don't you come sit down, get some breakfast? I've got coffee and the bread should be done in just a minute. Freshly made." Her smile was warm and inviting. Sam closed the door again, one cup of coffee and some breakfast wouldn't hurt and would give him a bit of energy to help him manage Dean later on.<br>"Yea, thank you, that would be great." He smiled for the first time in what felt like forever.  
>"I'm Sam, by the way. " He extended his hand to her. She grabbed it and got up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek.<br>"Hey Sam, I'm Mia. Come on in!" She led the way down the hall and in to a little food-area with some tables and a little bar desk that was temporarily filled up with bread, eggs, fruit and other breakfast items.  
>"Coffee?" She asked and gestured for him to sit down on one of the bar-stools.<br>"Yea, please." She had a cup of steaming coffee and some scrambled eggs and bread in front of him in seconds and then kept going with setting the place up for breakfast.  
>"I didn't realize you guys had this many guest." Sam nodded towards the many breakfast items that were ready to be served. She smiled at him.<br>"We don't. But the locals come here for breakfast before work so it gets pretty busy."  
>"Oh, I see."<br>"So what do you need the pharmacy for? Are you alright?" She asked just as another girl appeared behind her.  
>"You have to excuse my sister, she doesn't know not to get her nose in other people's business." The new girl said before Sam had time to answer the question. Mia turned around and greeted her sister the same way as she had Sam, a quick kiss on the cheek.<br>"God, why are you always so happy in the morning? Coffee done?" Mia nodded and gestured over to the pot of coffee.  
>"Everyday's a gift, you know that, luv." she said with a smile, which earned her an eye-roll as her sister walked over to grab a cup of coffee.<br>"Just let me have my coffee and then I'll take over, is all the food done?"  
>Sam had his breakfast whilst watching the two sisters get the place ready for customers and got to his second cup of coffee when the first groups of people started to show up. Mia seemed to be the one that happily greeted everyone and got them a table and took their orders whilst the other sister handled the money and served the food. It was calming to watch them all eat and talk and Sam could feel himself relaxing a bit.<p>

Meanwhile back in their room, Dean, who had managed to wake himself up again by coughing was considering his options. He had just checked the time and it was about quarter to 9, he was guessing that Sam would be back a bit after 9 as no shops would be open before that. He couldn't breath properly and he felt gross and smelly and cold. He sat up in bed and tried putting his feet down on the floor, head spinning slightly. Surely a shower would warm him up and get rid of the sick-feeling. He stood up and immediately sat back down again, head spinning too much. He closed his eyes, got himself together and once again got up. He'd been through worse, he could walk to the stupid bathroom!

It seemed to take him forever to get there but he was finally stood under hot water, although it didn't feel as nice as he had expected it to do. The water hit all the places that were sore on his body and made it sting. Actually, every single bit of skin on his body was sore and achey. He turned the shower off and dried himself with the towel that was hanging right next to the shower, smelling Sam on it, but really couldn't be bothered to mind right now, head spinning more than before. He just managed to get the sweatpants back on when he had to sit down, no strength left in his legs. The floor would have to do for now. Leaning his head back on the cool wall behind him felt pretty good for a couple of seconds until he got really cold again. If only he could remember what it was that he needed to do to get warm. He coughed and blew his nose in the wet towel before chucking it on the floor. After sitting for a bit with his head still spinning he decided that the best way would be to rest for just a little bit before getting up to get ready for the day. He slid down the floor, grabbing the wet dirty towel and using it as a pillow, closed his eyes, trying to make his head stop spinning. Just a couple of minutes and then he would get back up again.


	5. Chapter 5

_So... I like Sam with messy season 2 hair, and even though I haven't decided when this takes place, that is the way I picture him when i write about him. I like the way Dean looks in season 1 so that's the Dean in my head. Just figured I should let you know! xx_

_Also, I own nothing, 'cept for some sorta sick need to make very handsome fictional men suffer for my entertainment. _

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><p>Sam closed the door behind him as quiet as he possibly could not to wake his brother up. He put the two bags of stuff down on the table and was relieved that the horrible snoring had stopped. He went over to the bed to check on Dean but found that it was empty.<br>Where the hell was he?  
>He stormed in to the kitchen first, no sight of him, scanning everything he then noticed the bathroom light on, let go of the breath he'd been holding and walked over there. He knocked lightly.<p>

"You alright?" No answer. He knocked a little bit harder.  
>"Dean? You in there?"<br>When he still got no answer he opened the door and the sight that greeted him got him in to a slight panic. Dean was curled up on the floor wearing just sweatpants, blood-stained bandages sticking to his upper body and the leg that Sam had patched up last night was bleeding through his clothes. He cursed under his breath and rushed up to Dean, slapping his cheeks lightly.

"Hey? Hey! You with me?" Dean opened his eyes, a puzzled look over his features.  
>"Sammy? What are you doing here?" His voice was hoarse and raspy.<br>"I could ask you the same buddy, come on... up you go..." Sam had to use almost all his strength to pull his shivering brother up on his feet.  
>"Come on, we're getting you in to bed again." He dragged Dean out of the bathroom and the two of them stumbled over to the bed. Sam tried to put him down as careful as possible but still got a moan of pain when he let go of his brothers arm.<p>

He took a step back to figure out his next move. He needed to re-dress all the wounds as it all was soaked in water. He needed to get him warm. He needed to get the fever down. He needed to get some cough-syrup down his throat. He needed to kick Deans ass for even getting out of bed.

Dean was a bit confused as to what was happening. Everything seemed too bright to him and he was freezing cold. Snow perhaps? No... he couldn't remember seeing any snow or going outside although that sure would explain the cold and the brightness. In fact he couldn't remember much at all, thoughts were fuzzy and cloudy and trying to think harder made his head ache with pain. And why did his body hurt so bad? His chest and back was killing him and the shivering didn't help with that. It was too hard to breath and his leg was throbbing in a not so nice way.  
>He felt more than saw Sam manhandle him on to his back and closed his eyes to keep the bright light and pain out. If Sam was there maybe things were alright, maybe it was safe, he tried to focus on Sams voice.<p>

"Right, you're just gonna have to go with me on this one, alright?" Sam mumbled calming and reassuring nonsense as he pulled his brothers wet sweatpants off him and put a couple of blankets on top of him. He pulled him up to more of a sitting position which earned him a loud moan of pain.  
>He tried to push his emotions away and get in to the autopilot state that Dean and his father seemed to be so good at. He hurried over to the table and grabbed Tylenol out of the bag and filled the water glass back up.<p>

"Open your mouth, I'm gonna give you a couple of pills." He was a bit surprised to find Dean actually doing what he was told and helped him with the water. He popped the thermometer in his mouth as well and held it in place. Worry in his eyes as he studied his brothers shivering body. It beeped and he got it out. 102.9 Not good.

"Dean? I'm gonna take one of the blankets off, I need to keep you a little bit cool, your fever is too high, man." He pulled one of the blankets off and then went to get the cough-syrup out of the bag. He figured that if he could get Dean drugged up and a bit loopy, re-dressing his wounds would be a hell of a lot easier.

Dean swallowed the gross-tasting liquid that Sam gave him, it left a too sweet after-taste but for some reason he couldn't master the strength to tell Sam off for it. He was too hot one second and too cold the other, just staying awake was a major effort.

Sam sat down next to his brother, deciding to give Dean a second for the drugs to take effect before bugging him with bandages and more pain. He turned the TV on, settling for some lame cop-show after flicking through for a while finding nothing else. He looked at his watch, he would give Dean 30 minutes before ripping his blanket off and dealing with the wounds.  
>He knew they were bad but not bad in a bleeding to death kind of way and he was quite happy to have Dean lying down resting and not up doing idiotic things like taking a shower. God, he was such a fucking idiot! Sam tried to control his anger as he thought of his stupidity and instead focused on the TV.<p>

He flinched slightly when he felt his brothers head land on his shoulder, a quiet snore filling the room. Guess the cough-syrup really does work. He checked the time again, 10 more minutes and then he would wake Dean up and take care of his wounds. He tried to focus on the TV again but it all looked kind of blurry, his eyelids were getting heavier and heavier. He checked the time again. 5 more minutes. He would just close his eyes for 5 minutes and then he would get up. He scooted down a little bit.

The last thing Sam registered was his cheek softly meeting the top of Deans head, tense muscles relaxing as he could feel his brother sleeping next to him, knowing that he was safe.


	6. Chapter 6

I own nothing and reviews makes me happy and makes me wanna write... xx

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><p>It was Deans snoring that woke Sam up a couple of hours later. He carefully shifted his weight and rubbed the sweat and Deans hair off his cheek. He was sat for a while just trying to force some energy back in to his body. Sleeping a little had been good in many ways but also made him even more tired. He knew that he had to get up and take care of Deans wounds though, but was really not looking forward to it, he hated causing his brother pain.<br>He gently nudged Dean awake and grabbed the thermometer that he had left on the bedside table.

"Hmmm? what..." coughing interrupted Deans attempt to talk and Sam got up to fill the glass with some water, he handed it to his brother and then went over to the bags again, grabbing everything he needed to clean out the wounds.  
>"Open up." The raised eyebrow that he got in response confirmed that the pills were working, Dean was feeling better, and feeling better for Dean meant being obnoxious and not co-operating. Sam sighed deep and looked at him with pleading eyes.<p>

"Please bro, I just wanna get this over with."  
>"There's nothing to get over with, I'm fine." Dean's voice was hoarse and he held a coughing fit back, almost choking in the process.<br>Sam chucked the disinfectant-cream he had gotten purposely on Deans stomach where he knew one of the many gashes were which made his brother wince and twitch.

"Yea, you're just fine." He walked over to the side of the bed and pulled the blanket down studying his brothers bloody bandages.  
>"Usually people buy me a drink first."<br>"Dean..."  
>"And I don't swing that way, anyways."<br>"Dean."  
>"I mean, I know you do, Samantha... not judging... just saying..."<br>"Dean!"  
>"Just can't keep your hands off, eh?"<br>"I will knock you out cold if you don't shut up!"  
>"Naaww, you wouldn't do that to your brother, would you?"<p>

Dean studied Sams face, he needed him to focus on something else instead, having him worry and fuzz about was uncomfortable and if Sam would rip off those bandages he would be able to tell how bad it really was. Dean could feel it. They were stingy and itchy and they felt wrong. He remembered something about being on the bathroom floor and guessed that maybe that was why they weren't feeling too fresh.  
>"How 'bout some food huh, Sammy? I'm starving!"<br>"Yea, that sounds great. Just let me check your fever and then I'll go get us something to eat."  
>"But I'm hungry now!" In all honesty, just the thought of food made Dean feel sick but he needed Sam out of the room so that he could quickly cover up his wounds.<p>

"Look, I know you. I know what you're doing. You're not getting away with this one. I'm cleaning out your stupid wounds whether you want it or not, even if I have to cuff you to the freaking bed!" They locked eyes and for once Dean was the one that gave up, averted his eyes and let out a little sigh followed by a cough.

Sam reached forward to pop the thermometer in to his brothers mouth but Dean snatched it from him.  
>"I can do it myself, thank you very much, i'm not handicapped." Sam slowly counted to ten while watching Dean check his own fever (102, which he claimed was nothing) and then started to remove the bandages. They were bloody and sticking to the wounds and he saw Dean tense up and shift.<br>"Sorry man, this is gonna hurt..." Sam continued removing each of them, revealing red angry gashes, discarding the dirty bandages in the bin right next to the bed. Dean swallowed and leaned his head back on the headboard, trying to focus on something other than the pain.  
>Sam worked in silence, removing every bandage on Deans chest and also did the one on his leg. That one he noticed, looked worse than the rest and some additional bruising had formed around it as well. When he had gotten all of them off he grabbed alcohol to start the cleaning. He looked up at his big brother, seeing his closed eyes and how he was biting his lower lip, not a very good sign.<p>

He wiped them off with a wet towel first and then moved on to properly cleaning them, pressing gently to make sure they weren't filled with puss. When he got to Deans leg he had to grab some tissues to properly clean it out, tried to get all the grossness that was oozing around in there out. He wrinkled his nose in disgust and cursed his brother under his breath.

It took him a full hour to properly clean and bandage Deans chest and leg up again, leaving Dean sweaty and panting at times at the pain.  
>"Right, I'm almost done."<br>"Almost? What do you mean almost? What more could you possibly do to me?" He was actually whining which to Sam was a bit frighting.  
>"Just roll over, need to do your back."<br>"Back's fine Sammy, no need to do it."  
>"Either you roll over, or i'll roll you over. Dealers choice." Sam watched his brother struggle to lie down on his stomach and tried to ignore the moan of pain.<br>"Look, this is the last bit alright, after this I'll go get you some food." Sam started in on the back.

"I'll come with you to get food, Sammy. I'm sick of this bed."  
>"You can hardly even sit up without passing out, how do you expect to even make it out of this room? You're sick man, just take it easy for today at least."<br>Deans protest was interrupted by a moan of pain that he couldn't hold back, he bit down on the pillow.  
>"I'm almost done." Sam lied, knowing that this angry looking gash was going to take him a while.<p>

Dean was slowly loosing his battle for consciousness. He'd managed through all of the chest wounds, but whatever Sam was doing now was making his head spin. He felt Sam press down a little harder and icy cold pain shot through his back. He actually tried to squirm away at first but Sams grip holding him down was too strong. He tried to make out what was said to him through the ringing in his ears but couldn't hear a thing.

Sam felt his brother go limb under him just as he was finishing up. That would be just like him, wouldn't it, toughing it through right to the end. He rolled Dean over to his side and wiped the sweat off his face with a towel, letting his hand linger on his forehead, making sure his fever hadn't gone up.

He then grabbed all the stuff that was lying around and put it on the table, decided that a shower would help wash off the gross feeling that lingered on him after dealing with his brothers wounds.


	7. Chapter 7

_I'm still not really sure where to go with this story... I do have some ideas but still... if there's anything you want to see, want more or less of, let me know as my muse is off on vacation somewhere._ xx

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><p>Dean dizzily came back to a half-conscious state around the same time Sam got out of the shower. He knew that he was pissed at Sam for something, but couldn't remember what it was. His throat hurt and his body hurt and everything seemed too bright for his liking.<p>

He let his mouth hang half-open as breathing through his nose was just impossible. So not only was he hurt from the hunt, he also had a massive cold and a fever. Great. And if that wasn't enough he also had Sam running around doting on him like he was a freaking baby! Dean closed his eyes to try to shut out some of the brightness. He couldn't even remember the last time he felt like this. Usually you're either hurt or sick. Not both at the same time. So usually you can tough it out and pretend that it's not really happening but this time he just could not do it. His body hurt too much.

Sam looked over at the almost dozed off Dean. He really wanted to get some food in him and some more pills. He also wanted him to promise to not try to get up or do something stupid again but what ever he said there was no way Dean would listen. _If only Dad was here._  
>Sam stopped what he was doing for a second and reflected on what he had just wished for. Wanting his dad for a hunt or for information was one thing, but thinking about him like a father was something that always felt a bit odd. Still, if anyone could keep Dean in bed when he was hurt or sick it was Dad.<p>

A small shudder made its way down his spine as he thought of the time Dean had collapsed on the job running a high fever that neither Sam or Dad had noticed, risking all their lives. Dad had made Sam leave the motel room when they got back and he had wandered the streets filled with worry for about an hour before he couldn't stand it anymore. When he'd gotten back to the motel Dean had been in bed with a bloodied lip and a look of defeat and obedience in his eyes, Dad by his side holding a thermometer in his mouth with one hand and the other hand pressed against Deans chest.

Sam had tried to bug Dean to tell him what had happened after that but Dean never did talk about it. Ever since then though, hunting with Dad had been a little bit different, Dean seemed to follow orders better, not be as snarky and talked to his dad with more respect in his voice.  
>Sam didn't remember their dad ever really being that rough with them, maybe their childhood hadn't been all puppies and sunshine, but he never punished them for anything they didn't deserve.<br>He shook his head gently, washing away the memories of a time that seemed so far away. What he needed to do now was get them some food and get some rest. He knew how important sleep was and he hadn't had a full night in a long time now so after eating he fully intended on getting some shuteye.

In Deans fuzzy head the same memory was playing around. He couldn't quite focus on it as it all seemed to blur in to one mess._ The effort to stand upright. The heat. Being dragged out of the forest by his brother. The motel room. Dad's hand crashing down on his face. Being pushed in to the wall and then held up against it by his shirt. The blame and the shouting.** What if Sammy would've gotten hurt.** The guilt. The hand holding him firmly down on the bed when all he wanted to do was go see Sam to make sure he was ok. The panic of being restricted. The heat of the fever. Dad's rough hands somehow managing to clean him up in a calming, soothing way. The worry. Dad forcing pills down his throat.  
>And then Sam bursting through the door. Relief. Finally slipping in to a broken sleep.<em>

Sam watched his brother struggle to stay awake and quietly sat down on the floor next to him, putting his hand on Deans arm, feeling him relax and drift off. He leaned his head against the bed, hand still touching his brother and closed his eyes, knowing that this would probably mess with his back but couldn't resist the opportunity for just an hours sleep before getting food.

When Dean later woke up it was dark outside and Sam had been awake for couple of hours doing some research and had a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. He raised his eyes from his book and saw his brother scrambling up in to a sitting position.

"Oh good, you're awake. You've been asleep for hours, man!"  
>"Really?" Dean cleared his throat and carefully stretched out his arms over his head. Something in the back of his head was throbbing with a dull pain.<br>"You hungry?"  
>Dean nodded a little, not really that hungry at all but knew that it would be no point arguing about not eating with Sam.<br>"I'm gonna go check with uhm... Mia i think her name was... yea... I'm gonna go check if she's got some food for us."

Dean's reply was interrupted by a loud bang outside of their door and a muffled scream.


	8. Chapter 8

_So I just wanted to say thanks for all the story alerts and favorites, means a lot. Reviews are also very welcome as it really does help. Thanks for reading :) xx_

_(I'm also considering trying my hands on some weechester... _

_cant decide if I wanna get it in to this story as memories or start a new one.. any ideas?)_

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><p>Sam burst out the door only to run straight in to Mia, making her lose her balance and stumble back against the wall.<br>"Are you ok? What's going on?" He scanned the area but couldn't see anything so he turned to face her and noticed the boxes scattered all over the ground.

"Yea... sorry... I must've dropped them... sorry... didn't mean to scare you..." It looked like she was trying to move, eyes fixed on the edge of the forest not too far from them. Sam looked around once more before he walked up to her and tried to catch her eyes.  
>"Are you ok? What happened?"<p>

She slowly shook her head and tried to focus. There was nothing there. _He's not coming back. You're safe_.  
>"Nothing... I... sorry.. I thought I..." She couldn't help but look towards the trees again, squinting her eyes, trying to see. Her side hurt and she absentmindly touched it with her hand, feeling warmth and stickyness.<br>"You're bleeding." It wasn't a question, and he didn't sound freaked out.  
>"I guess I am." She wiped her hand off on her shirt, it wasn't a deep cut, must've happened when she dropped the boxes, something must've scratched her.<br>"I have some stuff in my room, let me patch you up." She nodded but didn't move, eyes still fixed on the forest. It made her jump a little when Sam put his hand on her back and nudged her towards the open door to his room. She turned around and let Sam guide her in, and sat down on the table, legs dangling a bit.

Sam went outside and gathered up the boxes she'd been carrying, mostly full of kitchen stuff and groceries, he stacked them right outside of the door and then walked back in again and closed the door behind him. She seemed to relax a little when he closed the door and her eyes weren't as glazed over. He pulled a chair out and grabbed the first aid kit and sat down in front of her.

"Do you mind if I take a look?" He gestured towards her shirt and she nodded at first, and then shook her head, cleared her throat and looked at him straight in the eyes. Panic still lingering but she seemed to be fully there now.  
>"No, I don't mind. Do you need me to stand up?"<br>"Yea, that would probably help." She stood up and pulled up her shirt a bit to let Sam get to work. He couldn't move though. The cut wasn't at all bad and would only take him a couple of minutes to patch up, but it was her scars that stunned him. Scratches, not unlike Deans, stretched from her hip and seemed to be going up over her upper body.

"Oh..." She cleared her throat. "I got mauled by... uhm... a grizzly I guess... it happened a couple of years ago... sorry... I should've warned you.. it's not exactly pretty." Sam quickly gathered himself.  
>"Don't worry, I've seen a lot worse..." He started cleaning her wound and bandaged it in silence.<p>

"So... What happened out there?" The hoarse voice coming from the bed made her jump and she looked over wondering how she hadn't noticed him before. The man sitting on the bed was watching her intently with green eyes, his hair a blonde mess. Even with the disadvantage of being sat in bed, head slightly leaned back and coughing quietly, he was still gorgeous. Something looked wrong though, a thin layer of sweat seemed to be covering him and his breathing was a bit too heavy.

Sam watched her go from scared little girl to determined young woman in the couple of second it took her to cross the room. She leaned slightly forward and over Dean, putting her hand on his forehead.  
>"You're burning up." She let her hand linger for a second.<br>"Sore throat?" It was more of a statement that a question. Dean nodded.

"I'll be back in a sec, I've got some soup and stuff, it's the least I can do." A bit shocked that Dean hadn't pushed her away Sam opened the door for her and lifted the boxes up.  
>"At least let me help with this." She nodded and grabbed one of the boxes off of him and he followed her out and then through the reception and in to the kitchen, walking past her sister sitting behind the desk reading a magazine.<br>She put her box down on the table and gestured for Sam to sit down and he watched her heat up soup and walk around the kitchen gathering bits from everywhere putting it on a tray.

Back in the room Dean tried stretching a little bit again, his legs and arms and well... everything was aching and the headache that had just been dull before was starting to get more intense. He wasn't quite sure what do expect when she came back, there had been a stubbornness about her that he wasn't sure he would be able to fight.  
>But he had also seen how terrified she had been when she had first entered the room, and he had seen her scars. Grizzly, eh? He wondered if maybe there was something out there that had done that to her, something far worse that a bear.<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

_So my muse is off somewhere hiding, and I thought I'd let Sam get some rest, I prefer him taking care of Dean as much as you guys do, but he's no good to me dead, so a full nights sleep wouldn't hurt! _

**_I just have to say that with this many people reading my story but no one reviewing.. well it makes it harder to write as I have nothing to go on, ya know. _**

_Thanks for all the story alerts though, they mean a lot also. xx _

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><p>Dean peered around the room a bit amazed how it had changed in the short ten minutes that Mia and Sam had been back. There was oil burning (eucalyptus if he remembered what she had said right), the sheets on Sam's bed were clean and his bed was made. The TV was on in the background with some old movie and Mia was in the kitchen making something as Sam was sat eating dinner at the table. Walking back out she put a cup in front of Sam and carried the other one over to Dean. He looked at her with skeptic eyes, not too sure what to make of it.<p>

"Don't worry, it's just tea. With lots of honey and a bit of ginger. Oh.. and a bit of whiskey. It'll help your throat." She smiled and put the mug on the bedside table and went and got another one from the kitchen.  
>"And this is soup, you need to eat some of it for your meds." Dean raised his eyebrows in an attempt to argue but the stern look he got in return got him to accept the mug and spoon she handed to him. He convinced himself that it was because it actually smelt nice, not because he had been told.<p>

Sam watched Dean with amusement as he first tried to protest and then started to eat. He was almost finished with his food and the tea that she had put in front of him tasted sweet and soothing. He had a dull tired headache lingering in the background and stifled a yawn. She had offered him another room for a couple of hours to get some sleep but he had politely declined. There was just no way he would leave his brother alone in the room when he was sick, even if it meant another night with next to no sleep.

Dean swallowed down the last of the soup and took the tea that she handed him. He couldn't quite decide if he liked her or not. The soup had been nice and having a woman's hand checking your fever and fussing about was a little bit nicer than having Sam's giant hands grabbing at you. He took the pills and the cough syrup she pushed at him and swallowed it down with a couple of sips of tea. As much as he hated that something as pansy as tea made his throat feel better he had to admit that swallowing and even just breathing didn't hurt as bad anymore.

She put her hand on his forehead again, frowning slightly.  
>"You're far too hot." Dean couldn't help it, he smiled and winked.<br>"I know... it's a burden." Even with a raspy voice and a red stuffy nose he could make women blush, it made him feel a little better.

Whatever she was about to answer to that got interrupted by Sam.

"Dude... sleazy much?" He got up and grabbed the dirty dishes from Dean's bedside table and carried them out to the kitchen.

"Right... I've left a jug of water and a glass next to you, when i come by tomorrow with some breakfast for the two of you I expect it to be empty, fluid's important when you're not well." She turned to Sam. "If you check his temp in half hour it shouldn't be that high, and you should get some sleep as well, Sam." He nodded and opened the door for her.  
>"Do you want me to walk you back to your room?" She let go of the breath she'd been holding and nodded.<br>"Yea, please... sorry, I'm not usually like this."  
>"No worries." Sam glanced at Dean before walking out the door, making sure he was alright.<p>

Dean was getting more and more tired by the second, he had almost finished his tea when Sam came back in again. He gulped down the last bit and put the cup on the table. He was actually feeling alright, knowing that it was probably the painkillers and all the other stuff she had propped him full of he closed his eyes, only to open one a little bit to look at Sam.  
>"Cool chick." he commented and then closed his eye again, sleep taking over.<br>"Mhmm..." Sam smiled and grabbed the remote, sat down on his bed only to get up straight away. He walked over to the first aid bag and grabbed the thermometer and sat down next to Dean on the bed.

"Open up, bro." Dean, who was already half asleep swatted at him.  
>"Just gotta check this quickly before I can go to sleep."<br>"shoo..."  
>"Did you just shoo me?"<br>"Yea, get over it, Sammy. You deserve to be shoo-d..." was slurred at him.  
>"Mhm... of course I do."<br>"Damn straight..." Sam had to concentrate real hard to make out what Dean was saying as it wasn't more than a raspy half sleeping mumble. He waited a few moments and then he carefully grabbed his brothers jaw and guided his face towards him, pressing gently on his cheeks to get him to open his mouth. It was more of a soft gesture than a violent one and to his surprise Dean didn't object.  
>He popped the thermometer in his mouth and held it there whilst he watched Dean frown a bit first but after a moment leaned in to the touch. Sam was glad that he had a hold of Dean's face as his whole head seemed to want to loll to the side. He guessed that the cough syrup had something to do with the state of his big brother and smiled a little. When he checked the temp and it was down to 101 he could feel himself relaxing and gently put Deans head back on the pillow which got him some sort of mumble in response.<p>

Sam quickly changed in to sweats and crawled under his covers yawning for what felt like the millionth time.

In less than ten minutes both of the brothers were fast asleep, Sam curled up on his side, facing Dean, and Dean on his back, head slightly tilted back, mouth open filling the room with a quiet snore.


	10. Chapter 10

_I really wanna say thanks for the reviews, it means so much and really got me to want to write again, I've been kinda dried out of inspiration lately but opening my email and seeing lots of nice things it came seeping back. So thanks :) _

_All mistakes are mine and I own nothing.  
>xx <em>

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><p>Dean woke up to a small knock on the door, he tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes and rasped out a small "Sammy...?"<p>

"Yup, on my way." Dean watched through gritty eyes as Sam got up from the kitchen table and opened the door to let Mia in. She was carrying a huge tray filled up with stuff and put it down on the table.

Whilst she cheerfully greeted Sam with a kiss on the cheek Dean slowly tried to sit up, little moans of discomfort escaping him as his body protested and his back sent icy sparks of pain down his spine, he squeezed his eyes shut to try to manage the pain better. When he opened them again he noticed Mia staring at him, or rather staring at his bare scratched up and bruised chest. He cursed Sam under his breath for taking his clothes off and pulled the blankets up even though he already knew it was too late.  
>She took a couple of steps back, fear all over her face, only to trip over one of the duffel bags, making it open and revealing shotguns and knives. Sam caught her mid-air and steadied her but she quickly stepped away from him and towards the door.<p>

"Mia.. it's not... " Sam desperately tried to think of any good reason why his brother would be torn to bits and why they would have bags of weapons just lying around.  
>"You're not... who are you guys?" She nervously scanned the room again paying a little more interest to detail this time, noticing books and trinkets, weird memories from her childhood seeping through her mind.<p>

"Are you... you're not..." She closed her eyes to try to gather herself up. When she opened them again both Sam and Dean were looking at her. She pushed her senses to the limit for the first time in a long time, but nothing evil lingered in the air, it all seemed to be filled with love and trust. Then there could only be one explanation, one she really didn't like too much. She locked eyes with Dean.

"Hunters?" He looked a bit puzzled first but then he slowly nodded.  
>"oh... well that changes things." Sam's jaw dropped.<br>"How the hell do you know about hunters?" He could see pain flickering in her eyes before she answered.  
>"Well my mother... oh and then a couple of years ago... there was this... and he... well lets just say that neither my mother or my last boyfriend were who people thought they were..."<br>"Where are they now?"  
>"My mother is dead... or at least I think she is. Bryan too... Well... one of you guys supposedly took care of him a long time ago."<br>"Supposedly?" She shrugged.  
>"I just... I see him sometimes... or sense him rather... in the forest. Or I think I do at least. It might just be memories playing up, that's where it all happened. He was killed protecting me from... well I don't know what it was... And then... well I guess he wanted me to feel what he had felt when he died. I used to go in to the forest and just talk to him, you know. I didn't think he could actually hear me, and then one day he was just there. But he was different... he was angry. He said we should be together and he... well he said each of the scratches that he gave me symbolized the years we would have together and that's when this man showed up out of nowhere and shot him and he just disappeared. Said he was a hunter and carried me back here. He visited me at the hospital and told me that it was over, that Bryan couldn't come back anymore."<p>

The room was quiet for a couple of seconds before Sam spoke up.

"The thing that killed your boyfriend... was it really tall? Kinda skinny, you know? Almost looked like a man but not? Grey-ish skin."  
>"How did you know that?"<br>"Because that's what banged us up. Don't you think?" Sam turned to Dean.  
>"Probably, yea."<br>"But I don't understand, if a hunter was here already taking care of... well her problem, surely he should've handled the wendigo as well?" Dean shrugged and then immediately hissed in pain.

Once again Sam watched Mia go from scared little girl to determined woman in the couple of seconds it took her to walk up to Dean. She palmed his forehead and pulled his blanked down to reveal his chest.  
>"Hey!"<br>"How long since you took your meds?" He was just about to shrug again but changed his mind last minute.  
>"I dunno, when did you last force them down my throat?" She ignored his smart-ass comment and started to gather things up and put them on the bedside table and then looked over to Sam.<p>

"You know... People always said it was a bear attack that happened to Bryan, maybe that's why that other guy didn't kill what ever it was you said it was." Sam slowly nodded, it made sense.  
>He sat down at the table and watched her as she fed Dean pills and cough-syrup. His head was still a bit blurry, he'd gotten a proper night's sleep last night but it was still a bit hard to gather thoughts properly.<p>

Mia was freaking out. She was oddly happy that Dean's moan of pain had reminded her of what she had come here to do. She knew that they probably couldn't tell but her head was spinning and she had to really focus to keep her hands from shaking as she started to work on changing Dean's bandages. It was easier to keep the panic at bay if she directed all her energy on the task at hand rather than keep talking about what had happened. She tried to push everything out of her mind but having two people close to her, the two people that had killed what had chased her all those years ago, somehow made it more real. Her vision started to close up, blacked out the edges and she could hear her own heart beating hard.  
>She jumped when she felt Dean's hand on top of her own, green eyes finding her blue.<p>

"It's ok. You're safe." He smiled a little.  
>She took comfort in those words and in his eyes and tried to slowly let go of the breath she'd been holding. The weight of his hand on hers made her feel better and his eyes, well they made her feel all sorts of things. She could feel herself stop shivering and continued doing what she was doing, although this time when she put her hands back on his chest her heart sped up a little and she had to turn her head slightly to cover a blush. For a hurt sick man, he truly was very attractive.<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

_You guys know the drill by now, I love reviews/comments/ideas/hello's... they make me happy and inspired. _

_And I own nothing, in fact, I would even go as far as them owning me sometimes, not being able to get them out of my mind.  
>(and on a side-note... this will never ever turn in to a wincest, so no need to worry:) <em>

_xx _

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><p>Sam, who was sat at the table watching his brother being handled by someone other than himself tried to figure out if it bothered him or not. Usually it did, but it was something about her that made it OK. After he decided that he was alright with it he moved his attention to his growling belly and the food on the tray in front of him.<p>

"Do you mind if I...?"  
>"No, go ahead, I brought it for you. The coffee might be a bit cool now though... sorry." She smiled an excuse at him and turned her attention back to Dean, speaking in a quiet voice.<br>"So... is it just your chest or somewhere else as well?"

He considered lying at first, but then something in her eyes made him change his mind.  
>"My thigh and my back." His voice was hoarse although the cough syrup she had given him was starting to work, making him kind of drowsy and numb.<br>"Oh... sucks that it's your back as well, I was gonna leave these with no bandage to let them dry out and get some air, but I guess that if your back is hurt you might want them covered up so you can lie down properly."

"If you're gonna leave anything open to dry out and heal up it's his back and his thigh, they look horrible." Sam spoke with his mouth full of food.  
>"Thanks, man."<br>"Well, they do."  
>"Yea, but who asked you?"<br>"Just trying to be helpful."  
>"Bitch."<p>

"Which leg?" Mia interrupted their brotherly banter.  
>"Left."<br>"Dude, I can speak for myself." Dean threw an annoyed look Sam's way and then looked back up at Mia. "It's the left leg, Sugar."

She couldn't help but giggle at their absurd arguing but quickly got serious again when she saw the state of his leg. She moved the blanket so that it was covering up his right leg and well, other parts of him that she knew she would have a hard time keeping her eyes off with just the thin material of his boxers in the way. She could feel hotness on her cheeks again and quickly tried to gather herself and focus. She took a closer look at the wound and saw the swelling and redness.  
>"This is infected." Sam got up from the table, a piece of toast in one hand, to have a look at the wound she was studying.<p>

It was all making Dean fairly uncomfortable. He didn't really like being the center of their attention and he squirmed a bit, causing his back to ache and a small moan of pain to escape his lips.  
>"Stay still!" The order came from Sam and he fought the urge to just reach out and smack his younger brother over the head. Since when was he in charge?<p>

"Right... " Dean watched Sam swallowed hard and chuck the piece of toast in the garbage. "That's my appetite gone... Thanks, man."

He studied the wound on his leg and held back a frustrated scream, this was gonna take forever to heal and would probably leave a scar. The scream that he was holding back came out as a sigh and an eye roll instead. He could feel the meds that he'd been given take some of the pain away but not all, and they definitely didn't take the awkward feeling of two people studying him away.

"Just close your eyes and lie back." It was Mia that spoke this time, her hand carefully pressed against his chest, pushing him down on to the pillows. He let her guide him down and closed his eyes, bringing an image of his baby to his mind, imagining driving down a road, her purring under him, music blasting loud from the speakers.

That's the place he tried to stay in, in his mind as he felt them start to clean out and mess with his leg. He tried to stay as quiet as he could and his fantasy world was a bit easier to linger in after she'd put music on in the room, telling him to focus on that.

Sam could see that it was starting to get too much for Dean though, and stopped which made Mia look up at him with question in her eyes.

"Do you mind getting me a glass of water?" He needed her out in the kitchen where he could talk to her without Dean over-hearing.  
>"Sure." She got up and went out in to the kitchen. Sam waited until he heard the water running before he got up and went after her, stepping in quite close.<br>She raised her eyebrow at the invaded privacy.  
>"Look... " Sam spoke really quietly. " I think we're just about to push past his pain threshold and I don't want him to feel even more uncomfortable than he already is... would you mind..." He didn't have to finish the sentence.<br>"Oh, ok. That's alright, I have some stuff I need to do anyways. Come have some dinner later if you want."  
>"It's not that I don't appreciate your help, it's just that.."<br>"Sam." She stopped his excuse. "I get it, ok. I have siblings too." She smiled reassuring and Sam relaxed a bit and watched her as she walked over to Dean, said something to him and then kissed his cheek.

"I'm serving dinner between five and seven today, drop by and get some food if you want." She reached up and kissed Sam's cheek as well. "And eat your breakfast Sam, you need the energy as much as Dean does." She closed the door behind her and left the two brothers to care for each other, recognizing the feeling of wanting to protect your siblings.

Sam walked back out to Dean and they went through the same routine as they had the night before, this time Dean stayed conscious through it all though, biting down on his pillow to keep from screaming. They agreed on leaving his back un-bandage for a while to try and dry it out a bit, leaving Dean face-down and so groggy from all the pain and the meds that he fell asleep whilst Sam was trying to talk to him.

Sam smiled a little and sat down at the table again, absentmindedly nibbling on his breakfast as he got his computer out to try to find out all about the incident Mia had mentioned, wanting to make sure that it was really over.


	12. Chapter 12

_So this chapter is a bit longer I guess... It just sorta took on a life on its own, I really enjoyed writing it though.  
><em>_As per usual the boys own me more than i own them and I really appreciate reviews/ideas/thoughts/hello's. _

_xx _

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><p>Dean woke up to soft hands touching him and someone speaking to him in a gentle voice, sensing no threat in his groggy state his reaction was to first lean in to the touch.<br>"Hey, you asleep?" He tried to force his eyes to open, swallowed down the dryness in his throat to respond whilst he also tried to focus on her.

"Well I was asleep, someone just woke me up." Mia let her hand linger tussled in his hair a little longer, enjoying the feel of him leaning in to her touch, it kind of reminded her of a cuddly puppy.

"Sam told me to force-feed you some food. He's having dinner with my sister and some other people out in the dining-area, said he got tired of your snoring." She reluctantly removed her hand from Deans hair and reached down to grab the container with soup out of the bag.

She watched as he slowly moved in to a sitting position and then pushed his legs over the edge of the bed.  
>"What are you doing?"<p>

"Nature calls." He smiled a little to try to mask the pain and effort it took to just sit up.

"Oh... Do you need a hand to get up?" He considered her for a moment, not really that used to accepting anyone's help but she seemed so earnest in her offer that he couldn't say no.

"Sure."

Dean pushed up using his right leg as much as he could, the left one already aching, he let her help by pulling a bit on his arm and steadying him, but the difference in size made it almost impossible for her to move him. It was a bit wobbly but finally he was standing up, towering over her.

"Woah..." He looked down at her with question and watched her arch an eyebrow before she tilted her head back to look at him.

"You're really tall." The head-movement made it so that he could feel her warm breath brushing over his neck and chin, sending little tingles down his spine, making for an odd combination of pain and pleasure shooting through his body.

"Come on, let's get you moving, I'm not so sure I could lift you and carry you back to bed if you would collapse."  
>He let her put his arm around her shoulder although he didn't lean any of his weight on her, feeling that he would crush her if he did. They wobbled over to the bathroom and she opened the door and untangled herself from him. Dean stepped in on unsteady legs and leaned against the sink, shaking his head slightly to stop it from spinning.<p>

Whilst he was in the bathroom Mia busied herself with putting some water on to make a cup of tea and also quickly changed his sheets, frowning at the bloodstains that she was going to have to deal with later. She opened the curtains slightly and a window to let in some fresh air, she also put some more eucalyptus oil on to help with his cold.

Dean felt a bit better after brushing his teeth and washing his face with some cold water. He was shakey and fevery still, but he could feel how it was getting better, he just wished it would hurry up already. He staggered out of the bathroom and she was quickly by his side, guiding him back to bed.

"Your back looks a lot better." she commented as he was sitting down pulling the duvet over his legs. He accepted the soup she handed him and watched her as she made her way out to the kitchen and came back with two cups.

"I hope you don't mind, I made you a cup as well, I just haven't had any tea today and it tends to make me a bit grumpy." She smiled as she put one of the cups on the nightstand and sank down on the floor placing her own cup in her lap.

"How's the soup?" Dean nodded in approval, he really did like the feel of it sliding down his throat, it helpt ease the soreness and the warmth of the food also made his body heat up from the inside. He sighed with content and notice the smell of clean laundry.

"Did you change my sheets?" She nodded.

"They smelt a bit bad, and they were bloody." It was Dean's turn to raise his eyebrows this time. He cleared his throat before he spoke.

"So how come you're helping us out so much? What's your deal?"

"Well... it's kinda a long story..." Dean carefully leaned back and put the empty soup container on the nightstand, grabbing the tea and taking a sip.

"I've got plenty of time."

"It's a bit complicated."

"I'm smarter than I look."

"Ok, then," She sighed and hugged her cup of tea close to her chest. "I've never known my father, he left when I was just a kid. My mom was... different. She was always talking about nature and how everything is connected and how much good there was in the world. She spoke a lot about how you could draw energy from trees and the earth. I guess she taught me a fair bit about it you know, but I was never really that into it, or I never had to be, it just came to me anyways. I do believe people are good. " She smiled at Dean's disagreeing huff.

"Some might be misguided... very misguided. But I can feel it you know, the good energy surrounding me.  
>Anyways, my mother died a couple of years ago, really unexpected, left me with absolutely nothing except for this place. It's just that... if no one would have helped me out back then, with getting back up on my feet, with running this place, I never would have made it. And then with Bryan... with what happened with Bryan and that man saving me. He had absolutely no reason to save me, you know. There was nothing in it for him but he still did. He was a good man, even though he is the one person I remember having the darkest energy I've ever felt. That's why I freaked a bit when you said who you were, there seems to be darkness following hunters." She shrugged.<p>

"You asked me why I help so much.. for one, I have the time... I mean I'd rather help out than get that extra hour of sleep, or watch something stupid on TV. And even more so now, knowing who you are. You have helped so many people, of course you deserve somewhere to rest, even if just for a little while."

"How can you think like that? With what happened to you?"

"You mean that thing that attacked us?"

"The wendigo."

"Well I don't know. I know it scares me, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's evil. I mean... spiders scares me as well... but it's not their fault, you know. Same with Bryan. He still scares me, or the thought of him or whatever it is. But it's not his fault. He was not a bad person... he just... got lost."

She finished her tea and put the cup on the nightstand and stood up.

"It must be hard, to believe that everything is good, and then have bad things happen to you."

She shrugged as she grabbed the empty container and both their cups.

"I'd much rather have my peace being disturbed once in a while, than constantly believe that evil is surrounding me, getting suspicious when I stumble upon good." With that she walked in to the kitchen to do the dishes and put on another round of hot water, leaving Dean to consider her words.

When she got back in to him again, handing him another cup of tea he moved his legs slightly.

"You don't have to sit on the floor you know, I wont bite."  
>"You promise you wont bite?" She smiled as she sat down by his feet, folding her legs, leaning the cup against them.<br>"I promise."  
>"Even if I ask you how you are? How's the fever? The back? The leg? The chest?" She looked at him innocently, having figured out how much it bothered him with people asking about his health. The eye-roll she got in response made her giggle.<p>

Dean was a bit surprised at how much he enjoyed having her around, he almost wished she wouldn't leave even though he was getting more and more tired again.  
>"Really though, are you feeling ok?" His leg was achey and itchy and his back hurt, but other than that he was feeling pretty decent. He took another sip of the tea that she had handed him and for the first time noticed a slightly familiar after-taste. It reminded him of Bobby and being sick when he was a kid.<p>

"What's in this?"

"Just some herbs and stuff, it helps with pain."

"So you've been drugging me?"

"I wouldn't put it quite like that." It was Sam that answered as he walked in the door.

"She checked with me first, it's nothing in it that you haven't had before."

Dean huffed something about them ganging up on him and took another sip, trying to figure out what it was.

Sam was happy to see his brother sitting up and he noticed that he gotten some of the color back on his cheeks, which probably had a lot to do with eating and drinking. He had agreed to let Mia put herbs in Dean's food and drinks to make him sleepy and to help him recover his strength, but he only just realized how he'd missed actually talking to his brother and how worried he had been. Seeing Dean with more color and energy was such a relief that Sam could feel himself relax.

He held up two of the movies that he'd gotten from Mia's sister.

"Oh! That one! That one!" Dean excitedly pointed at the movie in Sam's left hand.

"Really, dude? You've seen this about a gazillion times."

"Hey... you can never get enough of Chuck Norris!"

Sam shrugged and went up to the TV to sort out the old DVD-player as Dean scooted a bit to the side.

"Wanna watch the movie with us, sweetheart?" Mia checked the time and moved so that she was sat next to Dean, instead of opposite of him.

"I guess the dishes can wait for another hour."

Dean didn't know what he enjoyed the most, one of his favorite movies playing and his brother safe and sound in the bed not far away from him, or the girl next to him with her hand covering her face, peeking through her fingers at the movie he didn't even find scary when he was 10 years old. He leaned his head back and scooted down a bit, getting comfortable, letting out a small laugh as she jumped at something at the screen again and curled her legs up against her chest.

"It's not real, you know." Sam looked over at them and laughed at Dean's comment.

"It looks real enough to me." She said in a small voice, slowly lowering the hand covering her eyes. Dean places his hand on her thigh and guided it down to a more relaxed pose, leaving it there in a reassuring gesture.

"We wont let the evil fictional villain get you, I promise." She carefully and playfully nudged his shoulder.

After a little while with his hand on her thigh though she had to admit that it did make the movie a little less scary and it did make her feel a bit more secure...amongst other things.


	13. Chapter 13

_I will take the no protests about Dean and Mia as a silent agreement that it might be fun to pair them up a little. Nothing too serious, we all know our Dean. _

_I'm a sucker for reviews or just thoughts, ideas.. all of that... it does help the writing._

_also, all mistakes are mine, if someone wants to take over that responsibility though, let me know :) _

_xx _

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><p>Dean enjoyed the movie more than he had before, watching it with someone who hadn't seen it before was almost like seeing it for the first time again. He absentmindedly let his fingers play in little circles on her leg and leaned his head down on the pillow, still watching the TV but much more comfortable. He could feel whatever it was they had given him start to drag him under and staying awake was a bit of an effort but he was so relaxed and at peace that he didn't wanna waste the moment with sleep.<p>

"Hey Sammy?"

"Mmmm?"

"Remember the first time I made you watch this? You couldn't have been more than 8." Sam smiled at the memory of them sneaking the movie in to their motel room and past Dad, almost getting away with it as well.

"I remember dad kicking your ass for it!" Dean let out a low chuckle.

"Was totally worth it though, you were so freaked out!"

"yea, well it didn't help with you hiding under my bed and grabbing my feet right after I had just watched it. Jerk!" Dean laughed fondly at the memory, Sam had been very entertaining that week.

"It was a boring town alright, I had to make my own fun."

"So are they gonna end up killing this guy? How come he's not dead yet? Surely Chuck Norris can kill anything?" Mia spoke from behind her hand, peeking at the TV. Dean squeezed her leg and then returned to making little patterns with his finger, letting his hand slide up her leg, and then down her thigh again.

"He'll die soon enough, he just has to kill all the doctors and some other people first." She nodded and kept half an eye on the screen, and half an eye on Dean's distracting hand. Usually it took a bit longer for her to let people touch her. Hell, it had been years since anyone had touched her that way, after Bryan she had just given up on love and lust. But this felt nice, nice and natural.

"How's your back and stuff?" After watching the movie for a bit longer Mia needed some more distraction from what was going on on the screen and looked over to Dean.

"It's better."

Sam huffed.

"It is, I mean it. It does feel better. It might be all the drugs you've been pumping me full of, but I don't feel too bad." Dean gave Sam a reassuring smile just as Mia placed her hand on his forehead, turning the smile in to a frown.

"He's not lying, he's not as hot anymore."

"Hey! That hurt my feelings!"

"Huh?"

"I'm as hot as ever!" Dean winked at her and squeezed her leg a little tighter before return to the pattern he was drawing all over her thigh.

"Yea, you're the definition of hotness... wait until you see a mirror, scarface!" Dean felt like throwing something at Sam for his comment but there was nothing within his reach so he gave the idea up and focused on the TV again.

After about 10 minutes his hand stopped moving and a quiet snore filled the room. Sam looked over and found his brother fast asleep, mouth half open, one hand on Mia's leg, the other hugged around his chest, seeming to hold his broken body together. It unsettled Sam to see him this way, but he knew he just had to wait it out. Dean would be back on his feet within maybe a week. He sighed at the work they had waiting for them when Dean got better.

"So I wanted to ask you something." Sam sat up a bit and looked over at Mia.

"Shoot."

"You know how you said you still see Bryan?" He saw her tense up at the mention of it.

"Yea...?"

"Well... maybe you are. Maybe that hunter back then missed something."

"What would he have missed?"

"I don't know, sometimes it's hard to get everything, you know. And as you say you still see him?"

"Yea?" Mia folded her arm over her chest, feeling her heart speed up.

"Have you been in the forest since he attacked you?" She shook her head in response.

"So he might very well still be there."

"That's reassuring... thanks." Dean stirred at that moment, making her jump a little and watched him as he slid a bit further down, his slightly wet nose wiping off on her shoulder before his forehead landed on there instead, a snore filling the room again.

"I'm not trying to scary you, I just wanna make sure that you'll be alright even after we leave."

"Alright... so how are you gonna do that?"

"I need you to think... Like really think... do you have anything of Bryan's?"

"What do you mean?"

"Anything that would be like an essence of him, something his spirit could be attached to?"

It took Sam and Mia about 2 hours to figure out what it was that she still had that was Bryan's. In an attempt to let Dean sleep they had moved out of the room and in to the kitchen, Sam helping her clean up the last of the dishes when she suddenly stopped, remembering.

Explaining to Sam what a time-capsule was took a bit of time, and remembering where in the forest they had buried it also took a while. By the time they had it all figure out it had been long enough for them to get more meds and food to Dean.

They heated soup and some more solid food for Sam, also grabbing two clean cups with some herbs in, to make more tea. Sam carried the heavier tray and Mia was right behind him with the two cups.

Sam flinched a bit at the noise of Mia dropping and shattering a cup as he was unlocking the door to their room. Her eyes were once again fixed on the forest. This time Sam saw him as well. The pale boy was just stood there, in the dark, pointing at her.


	14. Chapter 14

_I've been crazy busy with work and studies (that are now finished.. woop), that why this is a little bit late. Also feels a bit uninspired but ah well... _

_I have some future chapters in mind and can't really decide whether I wanna M-rate this whole story, or if should make them separate for people who want to read... _

_(__yes i have a somewhat dirty mind) _

_As per usual, nothing is mine 'cept for the spelling mistakes. _

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><p>Dean woke up to Sam bursting through the door, he sat up straight in bed causing pain to sear through his back and bit back a moan. He watched as Sam put a tray on the table and then quickly ran out of the room again only to lead Mia in and up to Deans bed.<p>

"Watch her." Sam grabbed one of the duffels and ran out again. It all happened so fast and Dean was still groggy by all the meds and sleep, he shook his head to clear it and looked up at Mia, who had tears streaming down her face. He shifted uncomfortably, women and crying, he'd rather handle monsters and ghost.

"Uhm.. You alright?" She blinked and shrugged, putting the cup she was still holding on to down on the bedside table, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

"Who? me? Yea, just peachy." Dean reached forward and grabbed her hand, pulling her down to sit next to him and leaned back, letting his aching body rest.

"What happened?" She just looked at him blankly for a couple of seconds, shrugged again and looked around the room, eyes focusing on the tray Sam had put on the table.

"We should get you some food." She went to get up but Dean grabbed her arm and pulled her back down again, needing to know what Sam was out there fighting, and also strangely worried about her well-being.

"Just tell me what happened."

She closed her eyes and tried to pull herself together long enough to just talk to him, but she knew that even thinking about it now would send her in to the panic that was already building up inside of her. She needed to focus on something else, if even for a second, just needed some space or she would break down. She turned to look at him to try to make him understand.

"Just let me get you some food." She saw the protest forming and pleading eyes met his.

"Please."

He let go of her arm and let her get up and she quickly went in to the little kitchen and turned the tap on, both hands on the kitchen sink she let her self feel all the panic and fear as she slowly counted to ten, small hasty breaths escaping her, making her lightheaded.

Dean sat up in bed again, carefully putting his bare-feet down on the floor, itching to get out there and help Sam, and craving to know what had happened. The water had been running out in the kitchen for too long now and he was a bit worried about what she was up to.

Mia had her forehead leaned against the kitchen-sink, somehow trying to force the cool feeling to soothe the heat and dizzyness that seemed to be taking over her body. She tried to remember Bryan the way he was, so happy and light, but all that came up was him pointing at her, the whisper echoing that it was all her fault and then watching as he slowly took a few steps towards her and blood starting to form little patterns on his clothes, and now Sam was out there, what if he got hurt because of her as well.

She jumped when she felt a hand on her back and saw Dean's feet, half covered in too long sweatpants, coming in to her view. He reached over her and turned the tap off, then grabbed her shoulders and straightened her up. She slowly lifted her head and looked in to his eyes and seeing the concern there everything just poured out of her. How she was worried about Sam, what had happened, how this was the first time Bryan had ever spoken to her, how scared she was. Dean patiently listened and let out a small breath, knowing that if it was just a standard ghost Sam would most likely be fine. She was sobbing now and Dean looked around for some tissues and grabbed a bit of kitchen-roll, handed it to her and patted her shoulder in what he thought would be a reassuring way, hoping for the tears to stop.

They both kind of jumped when Sam burst through the door and stormed in to the kitchen.

"What the hell are you doing out of bed?" Dean rolled his eyes, trust Sam to get pissed over tiny details when he was the one out hunting a ghost. Sam walked up to Dean and Mia and grabbed Deans shoulders, leading him back to bed and pushing him down on to it.

"Hey! Hey! Get off me!" When Sam was satisfied that Dean was again in bed and not hurt he sat down next to him to give him the lowdown.

"Well, whatever that was, it's not there anymore. He disappeared the second she wasn't by my side." Dean nodded.

"So defiantly vengeful spirit then?"

"Yep. I'm gonna go make sure the bones are really burned, there are other remains as well, but they're in the forest and I don't want to be caught in there with him if there's still crap in his coffin to burn!"

"How do you know that there are remains in the forest?"

"Mia told me when you were out cold. I'm gonna need her to show me where as well, but first things first, I'm gonna head to the graveyard." Sam saw Deans worried look.

"Don't worry, man. I'm pretty sure there will be nothing there, I just wanna make sure. Watch the girl?" He nodded towards the kitchen, where they could hear water boiling and Mia messing around, seeming to have pulled out of the worry now that Sam was back and alright.

"Just be careful, Sammy."

"It's Sam. And I'm gonna eat first, let it get a bit later before I go mutilate yet another corpse."

Dean signed.

"Strange lives."


	15. Chapter 15

It had been about half an hour since Sam had left, after first having convinced Mia to stay with Dean, just to be sure that nothing would happen to her and to keep an eye on him, making him stay in bed. The cemetery was about an hours drive away so he would be gone for a while, but had promised to call as soon as he was done or if anything odd happened.

Mia and Dean had both had some food and the drugs were slowly wearing off for Dean, making him a little more achy and a lot more alert. The fever seemed to be almost gone, much to Sam's constant nagging and cleaning out his wounds, and he only felt a little clogged up and snotty. This was the best he had felt for a couple of days now and it had taken Sam a bit of effort to convince him to not tag along, dark rainy graveyards not being the place for someone who was recovering from a nasty cold.

There were candles and oil burning in the room, giving it a warm glow and Dean sat leaned back in bed, wearing just sweatpants. They'd decided to leave his chest un-bandaged for a couple of hours, to completely dry the wounds out. He was flicking through channels while Mia finished the last of the dishes and made them tea after having promised Dean to not put anything in it to make him sleepy. This was probably the most he had slept in years and he felt fairly rested and wanted to stay sharp in case Sam would need him. Dean had settled on an old western movie as she sat a cup of steaming tea down on the nightstand, again reassuring him that there was nothing other than some chamomile, whiskey and honey in it.

"You sure you don't want anything for the pain?" Dean raised an eyebrow at her and she raised her hands in defeat and nodded.

"Okey okey.. just thought I'd ask... again."

She went back in the kitchen to grab her cup and considered Sams bed as she got in to the room again, but Dean scooted over and gestured for her to sit next to him. She grabbed two of Sam's pillows and sat down, hugging her tea to her chest. Dean cleared his throat, forcing himself not to cough and she handed him his cup, urging him to drink. He took a couple of small sips and it calmed his throat enough for him to breath without that raspy feeling.

"Better?" He nodded and she took the cup from him again and placed it on the nightstand.

They sat shoulder to shoulder for a while in silence, watching the movie. Mia enjoyed the feeling of his arm rubbing against hers when he laughed at the screen. She glanced over to the side, silently admiring his chest and ripped stomach moving in rhythm with the laughter .

"You checking me out?" His raspy voice made her jump and she cleared her throat and looked to the side to hide the blush that flared up on her cheeks.

"I was just looking at your wounds... they look better."

"Uh-huh." He winked and smiled and then carefully lifted his arm and put it around her shoulders, deciding that the ache was worth holding a her close. It had been too long since he felt this close to someone.  
>There was still an itching worry in him that he should be out there and help Sam, but he tried to focus on the movie, tried to distract his mind with other things. He wouldn't properly relax until Sam was back and safe and within eye shot.<p>

The stress of the day and the lack of sleep the previous night was starting to weigh on Mia, she could feel her eyelids getting heavier and heavier. For the first time in a while she felt completely safe and relaxed.  
>She carefully adjusted her body so that her head was resting against his shoulder nook, one hand placed on his stomach.<p>

Dean let his hand slide down over her back, softly stroking, focusing on the feel of her skin and the warmth of her breath on his chest. He was silently cursing the cold and the wounds that made him feel weaker than usual. He wanted to be out there with Sam. Or in here at full strength... the things he could do to this woman. But now all he had energy for was holding her close, which, he had to admit, wasn't as boring and annoying as he would've expected it to be. He surprised himself with actually wondering about whether she was comfortable and warm enough.

She tried to keep her eyes trained on the screen to watch the movie but they kept sliding down, fixating on that little part of skin between his bellybutton and the hem of his sweatpants. With a soft, slow movement she let her fingers slide there, almost holding her breath, half expecting him to tell her to stop. When she got no protest she let her hand rest there, fingers slowly playing against his skin, eyelids getting heavier, until all she could hear was his steady heartbeat and all she could feel was the warmth and safety of his skin.

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><p><em>I know this is a little short but it felt right to stop here, I have the next chapter almost done. Hope you enjoyed this even though there wasn't much action. Reviews makes me happy and inspired, as ya'll should know by now ;) xx<em>


	16. Chapter 16

_I own nothing except for the errors and the need for some feedback. Be nice. Or constructive... or just something! :) xx _

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><p>It took Dean a little while to realize that she was asleep and it brought a slight smile to his face, knowing how scared and tense she had been before. He stretched his arm out and grabbed his tea from the nightstand just behind Mia's head. He tried to keep his movements slow so that he wouldn't wake her and when he settled back down again she mumbled something and nuzzled a bit closer to him, her leg finding it's way up over his good one.<p>

He drank his tea whilst watching the movie, eyes wandering down over her body every so often, her top had slid up revealing a bit of her stomach. He could see one of the scars there, disappearing down her hip and up under her top. It wasn't the worst scarring he'd ever seen but it looked like they had been pretty deep, now only showing as a slightly white line against her skin.

He let his eyes linger on her face and really looking at her for the first time noticed that she was a beautiful girl, it was a bit weird for him to watch her sleep as he'd never seen her that still before. She was always moving around, either smiling and laughing or busying herself with taking care of him. Her skin was soft and a few strands of her hair had escaped her ponytail, framing her face.

He reached over and put his cup down on the nightstand again, and slid a bit further down in bed. Mia mimicked his movement, making her top slide up even more, to reveal the start of yet another scar. Dean reached out to trace them with his fingers but stopped himself last minute, letting his hand rest next to hers on his stomach instead, trying again to focus on the TV.

The figures seemed to be moving around too fast for him to really see what was going on on the screen and again his eyes wandered to that little bit of bare skin. He found himself wondering how it would feel to touch her, what she liked and how she would look like when lost in the feel of his body against hers. He shook his head a little, again trying to focus on the film. After a couple of minutes though, the urge to touch was too big and he let his hand slowly slide up her arm, then down again, the feel of soft skin and woman overtaking his senses. He found his way down her stomach and let a finger trace along her scar and then back over her arm. Soft skin rubbing against his strong callused hands.

She woke up somewhere in the middle of him stroking her arm but stayed still, almost not to break the spell of him touching her. She kept her eyes closed, slowly starting to move her fingers again, letting them slide alongside the hem of his sweatpants. It felt like the air was electric and she moved her body a bit closer to his, slightly rubbing her leg against him. Just the simple touch made Dean's breathing speed up and he traced her arm and let his fingers slide up her neck and under her chin, angling her face so that it was just inches away from his.

She could feel his breath on her lips and got completely lost in his eyes as he moved his mouth closer to hers. Their lips were barely touching when the shrill ring from Deans cell made them both jump, banging their heads together. Mia could feel her face growing hot and sat up, turned her back to him, rubbing her forehead as he picked up.

"Sam, you OK?" On the other end of the line Sam was grumpily rolling his eyes. No, he was not OK, he was wet and cold!

"It's raining." He could hear Dean's laboured breathing through the phone.

"Why are you out of breath? You're not up and walking around are you? I told you to stay in bed!"

"I'm fine. So you called me because the big evil rain is being mean to you?"

"No." Sam huffed before he continued.

"I found the grave and you better have some whiskey or some of Mia's tea for me when I get back because I am already soaked." Even Sam himself noticed the whiny undertone in his own voice and it made him clear his throat and stand up a little straighter. Dean's low chuckle on the other end didn't help his mood and he huffed down the phone once more.

"Look Sammy, if you need my help or if you're too much of a girl to do it, all you have to do is come pick me up."

"No, I'll do it. You stay in your warm, dry bed. Just saying that you timing with getting sick, sucks. See you in a couple of hours."

"OK, whatever you say, Samantha."

"Bite me. Stay in bed." Sam hung up and looked at the grave in front of him, a sigh escaping his lips, pulling his hand through his already wet hair he started digging.

It took him about three hours to finish it up, it all having been for nothing, everything in that coffin was burned already. He was soaked all the way through his layers of clothing and he hurried back to the car.

He dug around in the trunk when he finally got there, finding a dry change of clothes to quickly jump in to. After he chucked his wet clothes in the backseat he climbed in to the driver's seat, trying to stop his teeth from rattling and hands from shaking he turned up the heat and just sat there for a little while, slowly getting the feeling back in his fingers.

The drive to the motel seemed to go on forever, it was cold and dark and by the time he got back he had a hard time keeping his eyes open. He'd been fantasizing about a hot shower the whole drive and grunted as he got out of the car, tired muscles aching and protesting.

The TV was the only thing that was giving any sort of light in the room as he quietly opened the door, he met Dean's alert eyes in the dark and located Mia lying next to him, fast asleep. He gave a small 'I'm OK'-nod, watched Dean close his eyes to go back to sleep, and headed straight for the bathroom and the hot shower he'd so longed for.


End file.
